An Uncommon Presentation of Neonatal Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Report

Abstract

Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is a rare autoimmune disorder of newborns and infants, born to usually asymptomatic mothers with lupus erythematosus. Clinical manifestations include variable cutaneous findings, with possible cardiac or hepatic involvement. We present a case of a 3-month-old baby girl with NLE, born to an asymptomatic mother. Her atypical clinical presentation included hypopigmented atrophic scars on the temples. She improved with topical pimecrolimus cream, with almost complete resolution of the facial lesions and improvement in atrophy noted at the 4-month follow-up visit. Cutaneous findings of hypopigmentation and atrophic scarring are less commonly reported. To our knowledge, no similar cases have been published in the Middle East. We aim to share this interesting case, highlight the different clinical presentations of NLE and raise awareness among physicians about this variable phenotype of NLE for timely diagnosis of this uncommon entity.

Keywords

• neonatal lupus erythematous
• atrophic scarring
• lupus
• skin of color
• topical pimecrolimus